Global investment firm Blackstone has completed a majority investment in womenswear brand SPANX, Inc., pushing the 21-year-old company’s valuation to $1.2 billion and enticing several celebrities to invest, according to a Thursday (Nov. 18) press release.
Other new investors in the women’s shapewear company include talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon and entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and CEO of online dating platform Bumble, Inc., according to the announcement. Additional investors include G9 Ventures and Able Partners.
Blackstone announced its intention to buy a majority stake in the women’s apparel company in October, as PYMNTS reported.
Related news: Blackstone Snags Spanx Majority Ownership
Sara Blakely founded SPANX in 2000 when she used $5,000 in savings to write her own patent and invent the first SPANX undergarment.
“This is an incredible, ‘pinch-me!’ full-circle moment, because both Oprah and Reese have been longtime supporters of SPANX, and Whitney has been a game-changer for women in business,” said Blakely, who now serves as SPANX’s executive chairwoman. “Oprah was a big reason for SPANX’s early success when she named it one of her iconic ‘Favorite Things’ in 2000. To have the support of these smart, thoughtful, world-class female-founders who have also disrupted their industries to elevate and support women means everything.”
Blackstone and SPANX intend to create an all-female SPANX board of directors, according to the release. Blakely will continue to maintain a significant equity stake and oversee daily operations.
In addition to SPANX, Blackstone has invested in a number of other women-owned businesses, including Bumble, Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, Hotwire Communications and GeoComply.
To keep with its investment in women-owned companies, Blackstone purchased female-led Ancestry.com for $4.7 billion in December 2020, as PYMNTS reported.
See more: Ancestry Taps Big Tech Execs as DNA Firm Looks to Deepen Its Roots
And earlier this year, Blackstone announced it had purchased Home Partners of America in a $6 billion deal expected to close later this year.
Read more: Blackstone Buys Home Partners of America for $6B to Reenter Real Estate Market
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